Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. So, leave me alone :D

Chapter Five: Guilt

Heero impatiently watched as the other passengers boarded the shuttle. Didn't they know that some people had places they needed to be? 'Hurry up!!' He sighed and sunk back into his seat. He knew this was his fault. He shouldn't have left. What an idiot he'd been for thinking that leaving was a good idea. He should have at least waited until this party was over. He had no business leaving the responsibility of something like this on anyone…

No. This wasn't his fault. It was Larry's incompetence. That idiot didn't know how to put together a good security plan. Not one good enough for Relena, at least. Then again, he didn't think that anyone in that building should be trusted with her safety other than him. They were all merely backup to him. Just people behind the scenes that took care of all the little things. He gave the orders and they jumped to it. They were nothing to him.

So why did he leave? Heero began thinking about it. Last time he had a real reason to leave her: to help the Preventors. They had needed help with some project, and Relena didn't need him to play hero in the shadows. But this time, well… a bad dream drove him away. A dream. How lame? He would have punched something if he didn't think they'd kick him off the flight.

'You're an idiot, Yuy.'

If anything happened to her, he could never forgive himself. She wasn't just a mission to him. In fact, she was the only mission he hadn't completed. He was supposed to kill her, but he never could. There was just something about her, something he grew to want to protect. She was a precious gift to the world, but was fragile and needed protection. And he swore to give her that protection. To be there whenever she needed him. He'd failed. Twice now. He couldn't kill her and he couldn't save her. What a protector.

It wasn't too late, he thought. But what if he didn't make it on time? 'Stop it, Yuy.' He would make it. But what would she say? Hell, what would he say to her? Nothing. There was nothing to say. Well, nothing he would be able to say. He was horrible at putting things into sentences. Things. Feelings. Emotions. He'd always made decisions based on his emotions, but when it came to putting feelings for others into words, he just couldn't do it. Another thing he failed to be able to do.

Far too frustrated to hold it in any longer, Heero punched the seat in front of him, sending it's owner into a forward jerk. Moments later, Heero was met with a pair of angry eyes. Following the glare was a string of four-letter words. They were soon silenced by a famous Yuy death glare. Heero sighed and decided it would be best for everyone if he got some shut-eye.

"Mr. Yuy! A statement please!"

"How does it feel?"

"Mr. Yuy!"

Heero covered his eyes from all the flashbulbs that were going off. 'What's going on?' He pushed his way through the mass of reporters and cameras. It looked like he was outside Relena's house, but he couldn't tell for sure. He only wanted to find out what he was doing. Something was pulling him in this direction. But what?

The throng of people seemed to go on for eternity; He didn't think he'd ever get out. Then, a break in their numbers suddenly appeared. After a short sprint, Heero reached the base of the steps that lead to the door of Relena' mansion. He peeked behind him: the reporters had vanished. When he turned around, he found that the stairs had taken an elongated form.

'What the hell?' Heero sighed. 'Better get to it, Yuy.' He then began his ascent. Mid-way through, images from his memories began floating around him. All memories of Relena.

Heero reached the top with a smile on his face. He felt like he'd just re-lived every pleasant moment he'd ever had. It was a good feeling.

As he reached the door, it swung open. Inside, Heero was met with another, only smaller, group of cameras and reporters. They were encircled around something. Heero forced his way through them.

The smile fell from his face.

Relena lied on the ground, dead from a shot to the chest. Heero screamed out her name and rushed to her to kneel down and cradle her limp form. There was nothing he could do for her. 'How'd this happen?'

"Live, from the Darlian estate, this is Lisa Torringson. Earlier today, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian was found dead. Let's have a word with the man responsible." The reporter shoved her microphone in Heero's direction.

Heero's face was painted with confusion. This was his fault? How the hell? "No! I'm not! I couldn't be! I…" Heero pointed to the top of the staircase. "It's his fault!"

The dark figure from previous dreams appeared where he'd pointed, grinning as he always did.

"Like I said," she started. "You're responsible."

"What?!"

Heero awoke to another flight attendant shaking him.

"Sir--"

"Lap belt. Yeah… I know." Heero reached to fasten the belt, but found it was on.

"Actually, sir. We've already landed. You need to exit the shuttle."

"Oh."

Heero gathered his on-board bags and exited the shuttle. He was confused as to how he'd managed to sleep through the landing, but that thought was soon overthrown as he began thinking about this new dream.

It had been different from all the others. In the others, he'd watch whatever happened, powerless to help. In this one, he found her… He couldn't bring himself to think about it. She wasn't going to get hurt, he vowed. 'I'll make sure of it.'

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Heero arrived at a house nearby the Peacecraft mansion nearly three hours prior to the deadline. He'd done a little research on his laptop, before he "borrowed" a car, and found that the other pilots had met here.

Apparently, Sally and Wufei had rounded the others up shortly after the Preventors had found out and brought them all here. Heero had considered going in and taking care of this alone, since he partially blamed himself, but he wanted to see what they had planned. Besides, it'd be easier with five than with just one.

Heero parked his vehicle and walked into the building, acknowledging he nods of guards as he entered. He'd made sure to wear his Preventor's jacket to avoid any wasting of his time with questioning. He stopped only to find out which room the others were in.

As he approached the room, he could hear them speaking inside. Quatre was explaining something to Wufei when Sally entered through another door, interrupting him.

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"I couldn't find Heero anywhere," she said, with a disappointed look on her face.

"Oh," Quatre started as he gave her a confident, reassuring smile. "Heero couldn't sit still at a time like this…"

"Huh?" She was confused. They looked like they knew something she didn't.

"He's already here," Wufei said as a door to the side shut.

Sally turned to find Heero standing there.

"Let's hear it."

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The next thirty minutes were spent listening to what Trowa and Duo had found as they surveyed the castle, and Quatre's plan of action. The plan was simple enough: don't kill anyone and save the hostages. Trowa would infiltrate the castle and sneak into the monitor room to broadcast a fake image to the monitor screens. Wufei and Sally would deliver the ransom money. Sally would then get shot by Duo, who would be posing as a berserk guard. In the commotion, Wufei would escape to meet with Quatre, who would enter through the basement. Duo would be confined as a rebel and taken to where the hostages were. If they took him somewhere else, Quatre had a plan B. Heero was plan B.

They had a fake Wing Zero made. It couldn't fire any weapons, but the guards wouldn't know that. From there, Quatre and Wufei would take care of the twenty guards, and Heero would meet up with Trowa to save the hostages after they freed Duo. Simple.

"Alright, let's go!" Duo shouted out.

The others nodded.

"Good luck, everybody," Quatre said as he left to begin his trip through the underground passages.

Duo soon followed to go find a guard whose clothes he could steal, whining about how he didn't want his job, and how he didn't want them to tie him up and throw him into some closet. He left giving Heero a death glare, promising to get him back good if he didn't come get him quick.

Trowa left with Duo, stopping to tell Heero to scare Duo a little by taking his sweet time.

Heero smirked. He'd missed being around familiar faces the past three weeks. It was nice to see these guys again, even if it was for a mission.

"So, where's this mobile suit?"

"We'll show it to you on the way out. Let's get going."

They led Heero to a make-shift hanger they'd constructed out in the forest. Inside, mechanics were rushing about, finishing up some last minute things. As he looked over the fake Gundam, a feeling of nostalgia swept over Heero. Looking at it brought back so many memories. Ones he'd like to forget.

Sally looked to Heero. "So, whatdya think? Did we do a good job?"

Heero nodded. It looked remarkingly similar to his Wing Zero. There were a few things he noticed were off, but he decided not to say anything. It really didn't matter that much. "It looks convincing."

"Good. That's what we're going for." A black SUV pulled up for them. Wufei quickly climbed in and impatiently stared at Sally who was talking to Heero still. "Just remember to listen to your radio. There's a good chance Duo won't get put with the--" Sally caught Wufei's glare. "Right. Okay. Well, good luck, Heero."

He nodded as she climbed into the SUV and they peeled off. He spent a few moments after that inspecting the machine before climbing into the cockpit to configure the settings. He did so knowing that he may not be needed and what he was doing could be a waste of time, but it gave him something to occupy himself with while he waited. Otherwise, he figured he'd end up thinking about things again. He was sick of thinking.

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End chapter five.

Good? Bad? Tell meh! n.n You know, I said this would be high in fluff, but I just haven't seemed to get too much in yet --;;; Perhaps the reunion can be uber-fluffy :D Anyway, I just wanted to assure you that I'd get there eventually! No false promises here. I'll update soon! Don't forget to review! n.n

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Footnote: Detials and lots of dialogue were taken from "Preventor Five."